On the role of function words in the transmission of implicit information (based on the material of German commercial advertising)

Papchenko Mariya Senior Lecturer of the Department of German Linguistics of Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Leninskie Gory, GSP, 1-i korpus gumanitarnykh fakul'tetov m.papchenko@gmail.com

            The terms "implicate" and "implicate" were proposed by Herbert Paul Grice as generic concepts for what the speaker implies, means, what the speaker hints at, but what is different from what he said ^{[1, p. 220]}. Thus, the implicit level of the advertising text is a set of additional information that the recipient of the information can deduce when interpreting the data expressed explicitly, i.e. explicitly.

The process of deducing new information from existing information is a natural property of the human mind ^{[2, p. 96]} and is closely related to the creative process of interpretation. "When they talk about implicitness, they mean that the speaker has "underplayed" something in his speech, which, nevertheless, the addressee is able to understand and "interpret"" ^{[3, p. 36]}.

When perceiving advertising, a person makes up a certain opinion about the advertised product, often not realizing that this opinion is already embedded in the message using the technique of entering implicit information. This is possible due to the following properties inherent in implicatures: firstly, they "bypass analytical procedures for processing information, so the addressee is not inclined to evaluate this information at all, he accepts it as it is" ^{[2, p. 96]}; secondly, "the addressee himself outputs this information, and does not receive it ready-made, and therefore, as a rule, does not seek confirmation of it in the text" ^{[2, p. 96]}. Nevertheless, this information certainly participates in the formation of the addressee's attitude to the object of advertising.

In modern linguistics, there are a number of classifications of implicit information, none of which is generally accepted. Perhaps the lack of an unambiguous classification is due both to the lack of knowledge of the phenomenon of "implicitness" and to the heterogeneity of the parameters of these classifications. However, the most common techniques of implicating information in German-language commercial advertising include semantic and pragmatic presuppositions (or presuppositions), as well as consequences.

Following Arutyunova and Paducheva, semantic presuppositions in Russian linguistics are usually understood as a kind of semantic component of an utterance, which is its logical prerequisite. For example, in the sentence "All Jack's sons are sailors" ^{[4, p. 85]}, it is naturally implied that Jack has sons. Semantic presuppositions are embedded in the meanings of words and therefore, following Grice, they are referred to as conventional implicatures.

It is considered that in modern science there is neither a generally accepted definition of the term "presupposition", nor unity of opinion regarding the categorical properties of presuppositions, nor agreement in the field of phenomena "covered" by this term ^{[5, pp. 129-130]}. Nevertheless, presupposition is one of the most important properties of the structure of the advertising text.

All researchers note that the main distinguishing feature of presuppositions is the fact that "it admits both true and false statements" ^{[6, p. 65]}. Presuppositions are a prerequisite for a linguistic expression to make sense at all ^{[7, p. 134]}. However, the denial of the meaning expressed by the presupposition leads to the emergence of not a false, but an abnormal utterance, as a result of which the semantic presumption of Paducheva, for example, means such a semantic component of the utterance, which is appropriate only in certain situations ^{[8, p. 53]}. So, the above sentence "All Jack's sons are sailors" is abnormal if Jack has no sons, and is appropriate only if he really has sons. In this case, a sentence with a false presupposition will look abnormal only for the addressee who knows that this presupposition is false.

Most likely, the use of actually unreliable presuppositions in advertising communication is undesirable. However, the property of presupposition to serve as a natural logical prerequisite for a certain statement allows the author to enter additional information into the advertising text bypassing the addressee's critical thinking. Often, the presuppositions of advertising phrases are evaluative statements about the advertised products or about situations related to their use, which reflect, perhaps not existing, but necessary for the advertiser, the state of things. At the same time, the consequence, unlike the presumption, "does not cause a feeling of anomaly" ^{[8, p. 61]}, even if the component of the statement that generates this consequence is false.

It should also be emphasized that the term "consequence" (or "implication") is not used here in a strictly theoretical sense, i.e. not to denote and study formal operations of logical sequence. Guided by the rules of not formal, but, according to George Lakoff, "natural logic" ^{[9, p. 439]}, we will refer to the consequences any conclusions that are a natural conclusion from the implicit premise of the statement. 

As you know, service words do not have their own lexical meaning, however, they undoubtedly convey a special separate meaning in the process of communication. Prepositions and conjunctions, for example, express certain relations between the phenomena of reality and thus can influence the angle of view from which the situation of reality is presented to the addressee by the addressee. Therefore, the main cases of the use of non-significant parts of speech, leading to the generation of implicit meanings, will be considered further.

§ Prepositions

For example, the preposition seit (c) in German indicates the moment of the beginning of an action or state, as a result of which its use in the advertising text generates a chain of natural logical consequences. If a product or service exists on the market for a long time, this most likely indicates the high quality of the object of advertising and its popularity with the consumer. Of course, such a conclusion is an important positive argument in favor of the advertised product.

At the same time, the use of phrases with the preposition seit in this context leads to the presupposition of uniqueness and exclusivity of the advertising offer. The presupposition of the preposition, which consists in the fact that neither the described action nor the state existed at all before the beginning, extends to the characteristics of the object itself. So, the advertising title of the manufacturer of sunglasses "Robinson" is the following sentence: Rosa. Rote Brille seit Robinson (Pink-red glasses from the time of Robinson).

The conventional meaning of this sentence refers to the well-known hero of the work of D. Defoe "Robinson Crusoe" and can be translated into Russian as "A positive view of life since the time of Robinson," who did not lose heart, even being alone on a desert island. On the other hand, both the brand name and the color are played out here in the stable expression "looking through rose-colored glasses" (durch die rosarote Brille sehen). In addition, the obvious circumstance of the absence of sunglasses in Robinson's time and a photograph of a modern smiling young woman wearing glasses with red frames – all these significant elements of the linguistic and extralinguistic context, as well as the presupposition generated by the preposition, form a different understanding of the advertising title: "Pink and red frames since the appearance of Robinson on the market." 

The meanings necessary for the author can also be implicated in an advertising statement as a result of using the multi-valued preposition mit. For example, in the instrumental meaning, this preposition shows that the noun introduced with its help acts as a means of performing the action expressed by the verb. As a rule, the action in advertising headlines with the mit preposition consists in changing some initial situation, and with the help of the preposition, the reason for the change is indicated.

At the same time, in the addressee's mind, without relying on any convincing rational arguments, an idea of a cause-and-effect relationship is formed, which in reality may not exist. This connection is implicitly "imposed" on the recipient of advertising information formulated in this way.

As an example, the headline of the advertisement of the Helaba banking group, which provides financial services to investors in the European market: Europa w?chst. Mit unseren Finanzierungskonzepten (Europe is growing. With our financing concepts).  The ambiguity of the mit preposition causes a twofold interpretation of the title under study. On the one hand, the second part of the phrase can denote quite reliable parallel conditions for the course of action. Europe is really growing, and the advertising company is really investing in the construction of new buildings.

However, there is reason to assume that in the conditions of advertising communication, if there is a choice, the addressee tends to prefer a stronger advertising statement, since in the "advertising game" the consumer expects a stronger advertising statement from the advertiser. The task of the author of the advertising text is to put this statement into a reliable language form.

In the example under consideration, the emergence of an implicit causal relationship necessary for the addressee is served by the ambiguous preposition mit: Europe is growing thanks to the concepts of Helaba financing. Such an understanding of the advertising title contributes to the formation of a positive image of the advertising company in the absence of convincing rational (factual) arguments. 

Like phrases with the preposition mit, phrases with the preposition f?r (for) can also be understood in a stronger meaning. On the one hand, the preposition f?r may indicate the purpose of the object or the correlation with a similar object attached by this preposition, with the main word in the phrase: eine Sendung f?r Kinder (transfer for children), das Buch ist f?r dich (this book is for you) ^[10]. On the other hand, the preposition f?r can also indicate the purpose of an action, in some cases performed with the benefit of the subject of the action – "zugunsten einer Person, Sache" ^[10].

Perhaps it is due to the presupposition of benefits that the preposition f?r is often found in advertising headlines and slogans, such as, for example, in the advertisement of DB: F?r Menschen. F?r M?rkte. F?r morgen (For people. For markets. For tomorrow). With a high degree of probability, it can be assumed that this title will be perceived by the reader in the more convincing of two possible interpretations: the company's services are not only intended for people, markets and tomorrow, but also bring benefits.

The presupposition of use is even more clearly manifested in nominal groups with a substantive infinitive and the preposition zu, which is used here by analogy with the particle with a dependent infinitive. Such nominal groups can be translated into Russian using the preposition "for" or the conjunction "to": Der Schuh zum Wohlf?hlen – Shoes for feeling good / Shoes to feel good (advertising title in the ad of the shoe manufacturer FinnComfort).

The preposition dank (thanks) has an obvious positive presupposition, which indicates that the name or nominal group entered by him is called the reason that led to the action with a favorable result. Such a presupposition contributes to the emergence of an evidently unfounded cause-and-effect relationship. An example is the title of Ihre Chemie (Your Chemistry), which develops and implements technologies for winter sports: Dank der Chemie k?nnen Sie den Winter sportlich nehmen (Thanks to Chemistry, you can perceive winter in a sporty way).

In this example, the positive presupposition of the preposition implicitly extends to the evaluative characteristic of the action being performed and, as a result, determines the formation of a positive attitude towards winter sports in the addressee. The reason for the pleasure derived from these activities should, according to the author of the advertising title, apparently be associated with the advertising company.

Relatively often, the preposition ab (with / from) is also found in advertisements. It is mainly used with numerical indicators (for example, when specifying prices, technical characteristics, etc.), and its use implies that the numerical indicator following it is the smallest of all possible. The presupposition of the minimum value can thus extend to the perception of a numerical indicator.

So, in the advertisement for a cruise ship trip, the price is ab 895 € (from 895 euros). Due to the use of the preposition, this advertising offer is perceived as profitable, although the ad does not provide rational arguments confirming such an assumption (and the amount itself is not so insignificant). Probably, in a similar way, the presupposition of the maximum value can extend to the perception of a numerical indicator after using a combination of prepositions bis zu (before).

Such manipulation with numerical indicators can also be served not by a preposition, but by an adverb – nur in the meaning of "everything", "only", "only". In this case, the semantic presupposition of this adverb has an impact on the perception of a numerical indicator in a smaller value – nicht mehr als (no more than) ^[11]: f?r nur € 29.90 (for only 29.90 euros). The reverse effect of perceiving a numerical indicator in a larger value can implicitly produce the preposition ber in the meaning of "over": ber 32% gespart! (Savings over 32%!).

§ UnionsConjunctions, unlike prepositions, can link together not only the phenomena of reality, but also statements about them, which is of no small importance in the process of speech influence on the recipient of information.

Nevertheless, unions in German commercial advertising, especially subordinate ones, are relatively infrequent. 

On the one hand, the omission of many conjunctions is certainly due to the desire of the advertising language for conciseness and simplification of the syntactic construction of sentences. On the other hand, the absence of conjunctions makes it possible to establish relationships between phrases not so explicitly, that is, implicitly. As you know, it is the information received implicitly that has the necessary effect on the addressee's worldview.

In most cases, the coherence of statements in the advertising text is carried out due to the sequence of sentences or the use of punctuation marks such as a colon and a dash.  However, the use of conjunctions in certain contexts may also lead to the emergence of implicit meanings.

Thus, the use of the union oder in the advertisement of the Dialogpost postal service leads to the generation of an implication of comparison, in which the advertised product appears to be the only possible and correct choice: Sie k?nnen viele Wege zur Zielgruppe nehmen. Oder den direkten (You can go many ways to the target audience. Or direct).

Bypassing the critical thinking of the recipient of information, connective unions ensure the establishment of a connection between phenomena that sometimes does not exist, but is necessary for the addressee. For example, an advertisement for a window replacement campaign for new Velux companies offers savings of up to 130 euros. In the title – Jetzt modernisieren und sparen (Now update and save) – as a result of using the union und (and) between the verbs "modernisieren" (update) and "sparen" (save), the actions expressed by these verbs are equated to each other, although in reality the buyer will have to spend a significant amount of money to replace plastic windows.

In the advertising of the Telekom telephone operator, the use of the connective union nicht nur, sondern (not only, but) allows you to naturally put an objective fact of reality and an abstract expression on a par, implicitly giving the described fact an estimated value of unlimited freedom: Ich verlege nicht nur 10,000 km Kabel. Sondern unendliche M?glichkeiten (I lay not only 10,000 km of cable, but also endless possibilities).

Contrastive conjunctions also help to combine several separate statements into one semantic whole, but already on the basis of opposition. The advertising headline of the Union Investment investment division of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken financial group is a compound sentence with the opposite union aber (but): Wir k?nnen nicht alles erkl?ren, aber wie man heute zeitgem Geld ansparen kann, schon (We cannot explain everything, but we can explain how modern monetary savings can be carried out today).

It seems that the formulation of the main advertising argument in the form of one of the parts of a compound sentence contributes to increasing the degree of reliability of this argument. After all, the advertiser's statement "we can explain how to carry out modern monetary savings" without the opposition "we can't explain everything" would look more unfounded and less natural. 

A special place in the series of unions is occupied by the union als in the meaning of "as", "as". This is determined by its function to introduce an application, which is a truncated independent sentence with an omitted verb-bundle ^{[12, p. 606]}, as a result of which semi-predicative relations arise between the application and the defined word. Semi-predicativeness, in turn, allows using the application to express "an additional message ... accompanying the main message contained in the distributed part of the sentence" ^{[13, p. 353]}.

So, as an application in advertising texts, evaluation characteristics of the advertising object are usually used, for example, in the BMW ad: Der neue BMW X5 setzt als Wegbereiter seiner Klasse erneut Ma?st?be (The new BMW X5, being a pioneer in its class, sets the scale anew). The application clearly and explicitly characterizes the defined word from the positive side, while at the same time attributing this characteristic implicitly. The attribute of the described object contained in the appendix, thanks to semi-predicativeness, is transmitted in the form of a ready-made fragment of reality. Being the subject (and not the subject) of the main sentence, the transmitted content does not involve the natural human mechanism in the form of the addressee's desire to question the new information received. 

Despite a certain syntactic complexity (in comparison with simple or compound sentences), complex sentences are also found in advertising texts, including in headings. Probably, the choice in favor of a compound connection is explained by the property of some types of subordinate clauses to serve as a presupposition of the truth of the sentence. Analyzing pronominal-determinative adjuncts, Baker notes: "presupposition ... is a condition for considering a sentence as a whole either true or false; if the presupposition is false, then it follows not that the statement is false, but that the sentence is pointless [that is, it has no truth of meaning]" ^{[14, p. 409]}.

It is complex sentences with pronominal-determinative adjuncts that are especially common in advertising and serve as a reliable transmission of emotional and evaluative arguments in favor of purchasing the advertised product. Thus, in the advertising title of the Zurich insurance company, the pronominal-determinative sentence F?r alle, die ihr Unternehmen wirklich lieben is used (For everyone who really loves their company).

With the help of this title, its authors are trying to influence the conceptual and sensory sphere of perception of potential consumers, positioning the possession of an advertising object as a manifestation of concern for their own business. Due to the presupposition of the truth of the sentence as a result of the use of a subordinate connection, the analyzed statement seems natural. However, upon closer examination, such positioning does not look too convincing.

In addition to pronominal-determinative adjuncts, Blake also refers to some conditional adjuncts and subordinate causes to adjuncts of this type ^{[14, p. 411]}, which are often found in German-language magazine advertising.

So, the Zurich insurance company title discussed above contains another complex subordinate clause, with subordinate conditions: Wenn Ihnen etwas wichtig ist, dann z?hlt nur der beste Schutz (If something is important to you, then you can rely on – letters. it is considered – only for the best protection). In this example, the presupposition of the truth of the offer is the statement that a potential buyer values his business. As a result of the use of a subordinate relationship, this presupposition implicitly determines the choice of the advertising company's product as the best of its kind.

The functioning of the truth presupposition in a complex sentence with a subordinate reason can be illustrated with the help of an advertising title in which Commerzbank offers special conditions for a new savings deposit: Weil Sie hohe Zinsen und Sicherheit wollen. Bieten wir Ihnen beides – mit dem Festzins-Sparen (Since you want a high deposit percentage and security, we offer you both – with a Festzins-Sparen contribution).

The natural desires of potential customers of the bank are formulated in the subordinate part of the sentence, which serves as a presupposition of the truth of the entire statement. As a result of the use of a complex causal relationship, this advertising offer from Commerzbank seems to be the only possible way to satisfy the desire of a potential consumer. However, in reality, the analyzed advertising title expresses only the advertiser's desire to convince the target audience to use the services of the advertising company.

Thus, implicit information in advertising can be called that additional interpretation of the advertising message, which arises as a result of the conscious intention of the author and is achieved by using certain techniques of text construction. The communicative success of using implicatures in advertising implies that the addressee "correctly" and unconsciously perceives the additional meaning inherent in the message. The skillful use of service words and syntactic communication means allow the authors of advertising texts to imperceptibly control the reader's attention, directing it in the necessary direction.

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